6.19.2011

Civil war photos

When these photos were released in a special Civil War Faces collection by the Library of Congress, I was fascinated by the mostly unidentified photos of soldiers, women, children, and even a few horses snuck in a photo or two. The Civil War was never something I was enthusiastic about, I suppose because, living on the west coast, we were never educated about it extensively. This summer I'm doing a bit of traveling (more on that later), and hope to learn a bit more, and maybe see some Civil War related sights.

Here's just a few portraits that stood out to me, but I would recommend checking out the entire collection, it really is interesting to look at and wonder about the people long gone. There are your expected facial hair sporting men with guns and knives, but also boys clearly not old enough to enlist, african american soldiers, women in plaits and crinolines, sailors, and dare I say a few soldier portraits that look quite a bit female.

As for the first photo: What a heartbreaker!

..........Little girl holding a photo of her father..........

..........Silly boys..........

..........My first impression was "female" but I'll never know..........

..........The lighting in this is haunting..........

.........Notice how her shears are in a special loop on her skirt..........

28 comments:

There are lots of Civil War Re-enactments in the midwest so check it out before you start traveling. It's a great chance to have a living history lesson. The camps and the clothing are authentic. For more about the Civil War read the book, "This Cruel War" which is an almost complete set of letters between husband and wife Grant and Malinda Taylor during his service in the Civil War.

Having grown up right in the midst of "Civil War territory", and spent many a summer afternoon wandering battlefields and gazing at houses still bearing the bullet and cannon scars from so long ago, these are utterly fascinating! I was a bit of a CW geek for a bit when I was younger, and still never tire of reading about it and studying photos of those who were alive at the time. Thanks for linking to that collection--I dare say I'm going to be spending a lot of my free time this evening digging through it! ;)

What a great post! Being from Atlanta, it used to feel like the Civil War/Civil Rights was sometimes ALL we learned about up until 11th grade, and it used to bore me, but now I find myself drawn to these eras of history. I've never seen these pictures before, and they were very interesting! Especially the cigar guys and the female(?) soldier and, ahem, the handsome soldiers. Thanks for sharing!- Emily

These are fascinating, I love these! The "woman" soldier is especially interesting. Being from Georgia, I have always been fascinated by the Civil War. There was actually a civil war hospital in the field behind my house, and that knowledge fascinates me to no end!

I definitely agree with the other suggestion about the Ken Burns documentary, "The Civil War". If you haven't seen it, I really recommend it.

Being form Germany, I don't know that much about the Civil War as it's not part of the history of my country. But I definitely love those photographs. And I have to agree with the first one. He really is a heartbreaker. ;) Thanks for sharing.

Great post. When you look into the eyes of all these people long gone it strikes me how similar we are at heart even though the world has changed since then. These carefully kept portraits remind us of how, in the end, love is all that matters... For a brother, father, sister, mother... Thanks!

Crazy to think that today, it is normal for us to smile in photos, while in that era, it was normal for them to do the opposite. I feel that with people not smiling, you can tell their expressions more through their eyes. Gorgeous photos.

Love these!!!! The two women with the shears reminds me of how Mrs. Ingalls did her hair in the books. . her daughters never knew what her ears looked like. I thought that one soldier looked like a girl at first too but looking at him again I saw a boy way too young to be in the military!

I agree, that last pic of the young man....VERY HANDSOME indeed! And that one pic you thought the soldier looked feminine, most likely was a woman in disguise. So many women fought in the civil war and if they weren't wounded, were never found out.

these are great! i'm really into american history, the civil was especially. i really love new england because of all the history, i live in new york. also my dads side of the family has been in america for a long time, my grandmothers side since the 1600s! so i have several family members who fought in the civil war. unfortunately, on the confederate side.